


Brave

by gettingbetter



Series: Brave [1]
Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Episode Related, Episode: s01e02, F/F, Femslash, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8351071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gettingbetter/pseuds/gettingbetter
Summary: A rewrite of S01E02 where the girl-hate and scheming is replaced with genuine girl love. Because they could be so good for each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I just started this show but I saw that there's only one fic in the Rebecca/Valencia tag and that's just criminal. I wrote this up quickly to fix that. Un-beta'd.

When Rebecca first sees her, looking for ice cream in the supermarket with Josh – with her love, her _obsession_ – she doesn’t know what she’s feeling. She doesn’t understand the emotions welling up in her stomach – envy, certainly, maybe dread, but also something strangely similar to admiration. Awe, even.

She’s beautiful. There’s no question about it, this is the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever seen in her life. And she hates it.

She hates standing in a supermarket, dressed like a sickly college student out for a ramen resupply run, across from someone wearing heels and a form-fitting dress, looking like a goddamn _supermodel_ instead of someone doing the most boring, unimpressive task in the world.

And then she looks at her. Makes eye contact, and Rebecca feels totally trapped. She can’t move under the gaze of someone so beautiful she doesn’t seem real. Like an airbrushed model, like a goddess, like Aphrodite herself.

“Why is Greg talking to a homeless?”

Christ. If she hadn’t already felt humiliated, unimpressive, completely inferior in every way to this girl, she sure feels it now.

But then Josh introduces them, and time starts moving in a blur. Rebecca feels completely lost – kisses her hand ( _what?_ ) when she holds it out, makes a complete fool of herself what feels like a dozen times in the span of sixty seconds.

“Valencia. It’s the Spanish word for ‘brave’.”

Valencia. That sounds right.

 

She goes home and adds Valencia on Facebook. Less than a minute later, she gets a notification: _Valencia Maria Perez has accepted your friend request_. Her eyes go wide, her heart almost skips a beat. _Holy shit._ And there it is: her acceptance into Valencia’s life, even as the most distant acquaintance one can have.

 

From then, Rebecca’s life becomes a whirlwind of trying to impress Valencia. She’s not doing it for Josh – _Josh is just a friend, remember_ – but all the same, she feels wrong about it. Dishonest.

She goes to Valencia’s yoga class, sweats out about half her body weight in water, feels unbelievably disgusting stretching across from this goddess who hasn’t broken a sweat. And she feels like she should _hate_ her – she’s too perfect! It’s almost criminal! – but mostly, she just wants Valencia to like her. To not look at her like she sees her the same way Rebecca sees herself. To feel even a thousandth as impressed by Rebecca as Rebecca is by her.

“We are in a yoga class,” her internal narration sings in Valencia’s voice. Breathe in, breathe out. “Now is the time to let your mind go blank,” breathe in, “and focus instead on how awesome the yoga teacher is,” and her breath gets caught in her throat.

Every move Valencia makes is art to Rebecca. Her hips move like poetry while her eyes stay trained on Rebecca like a statue – like a gorgeous, _sexy_ statue. She opens her mouth to breathe in, breathe out, slow and calm, and Rebecca’s eyes flutter closed. It’s too much to look at. She feels wrong – like somehow now, it’s _Josh_ that she’s betraying just by looking at his girlfriend like this. Which is crazy! She’s just the beautiful girlfriend of a guy she went to camp with. There’s nothing more than that going on here. God, just drop it.

After class, Rebecca plucks up the courage to ask Valencia to get coffee with her. Valencia turns her down – she only drinks water, of course she does, a pure, glowing goddess like her can’t plague her body with toxins like the rest of us mere mortals – but when Rebecca tells her she’ll see her again next time, she breaks out in a genuine smile.

“I picked up a twenty-pack on the way in, so I’m kind of your sugar momma if you know what I’m sayin’.”

God, it’s so cheesy, but then Valencia laughs a real laugh and says, “I wish. I only get to keep 50% of each class, but until I get my own studio, I can’t complain.”

And now it’s Rebecca’s turn to perk up. “Your own studio, that’s a great idea! Have you looked into stuff yet? Because I’m actually a lawyer, and real estate is my specialty and I can help you find a nice place, get a good deal on a lease…” She trails off, realizing she’s inserted herself into Valencia’s life a little too quickly. She doesn’t want to scare her off, god.

Valencia nods along, not looking too impressed, but before she can turn her down completely, Rebecca quickly invites her to lunch to look over lease details.

“And I can buy you… a really nice… water,” she says uncertainly. She’s lost her. She knows it. It’s all over, fuck.

“Okay,” Valencia says, and Rebecca feels lighter than she has since she first saw Josh back in New York.

 

They go to lunch, surprisingly against Josh’s wishes, which makes Rebecca wonder what he thinks her agenda is. That she wants to get in between them? As if, she _knows_ they’re just friends.

Valencia is telling her about how nervous she is about the offer they made on the gorgeous studio Rebecca found for her. Rebecca reassures her that there’s nothing to worry about; she did go to Harvard, after all. And Yale. And she’s a real estate _monster_ – getting good deals on good properties is her superpower.

“Trust me, by the end of lunch, that guy’s gonna call and cave.”

Valencia doesn’t look so sure, but she drops it to talk about her diet, her skincare routine, and Rebecca doesn’t get any of it, but she feels like Valencia is inviting her to share in her beauty by offering Rebecca her secrets. She can’t stop staring as Valencia trails her finger down her chest, explaining her coconut oil treatment, and she’s thankful for the text that snaps her out of it.

“We got your yoga studio!” she squeals excitedly.

“We did?” Valencia gasps. “Oh my god, you’re amazing!”

Rebecca grins, elated at the praise from Valencia. Valencia pulls her into a hug, and Rebecca’s elated about that, too, and she buries her face in Valencia’s hair before she can stop herself. Valencia giggles and pats her back, thanking her again as she pulls away.

“God, I can’t believe you did it!”

Rebecca can believe she got the studio easy, since she’s won over hundreds of agents like this one before, but she still feels a deep sense of pride that she helped Valencia with something that means so much to her.

 

They go back to Rebecca’s for celebratory drinks afterwards. Three glasses of wine in, they can’t stop fawning over one another – reminding each other “I love you” again and again, the way friends love to after rounds of mixed drinks or sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor escaping from a loud party. But then Valencia gets quiet.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Rebecca asks.

Valencia laughs, but it’s not the warm laugh she gave Rebecca after yoga class. It’s a more bitter one, and Rebecca frowns.

“It’s just… you wouldn’t get this about me, but… I don’t actually have a lot of girlfriends.”

And she tells Rebecca about how the last time she fit in with a group of girls was in high school, how they hurt her by spreading dirty rumors. She tells Rebecca about her English teacher, who Valencia isn’t too concerned about, but Rebecca knows she should be, and she worries _for_ her.

She keeps a light tone as she asks about him, her heart breaking for Valencia in a way even Valencia doesn’t understand. And Valencia just laughs it off, but then, after a second, she looks Rebecca in the eyes and says, “Oh my god, you’re so amazing. You’re so nice.”

Rebecca doesn’t know what to say. She thinks of herself as nice, of course, but others… haven’t really used that word to describe her a whole lot, if she’s being honest.

“I thought you only wanted to do real estate stuff with me, but… we’re _friends_ ,” Valencia continues, and then, uncertainly, “We’re friends, right?” And that makes Rebecca’s heart catch in her throat.

She never thought Valencia would want to be friends with her, but somehow, it breaks her heart to think Valencia would think _Rebecca_ doesn’t want to be friends. She’s perfect, she’s amazing, but Rebecca realizes for the first time that maybe Valencia doesn’t see herself the way Rebecca does. She doesn’t see herself as the most desirable person on the planet, as the ideal human, as the absolute peak of existence as far as Rebecca can tell. She just sees herself as a girl, a beautiful girl, who’s been hurt time and time again by friends and who only has one person to count on.

Suddenly, Rebecca feels a tightness in her chest, and she decides right there that she’ll never let Valencia feel that way again.

“Yeah, we’re friends,” she tells her, and can’t stop telling her again and again until Valencia pulls her into another hug.

 

Back in the office, Rebecca can’t stop gushing to Paula. Paula, best friend though she may be, doesn’t seem to get it. She keeps turning the conversation back to Josh, winning over Josh, snatching Josh away from Valencia, and Rebecca realizes that, even though at first, part of her really _might’ve_ wanted all of that, but now, she just… genuinely enjoys being around Valencia. She really likes her.

Paula seems to think something’s up, but she doesn’t say so. She miraculously drops the subject of Josh, for what might just be the third time since she found out about him, but she still looks suspicious.

“Honey, you know I don’t want to doubt you, but are you _sure_ you know what you’re getting into with her?”

Rebecca laughs. Of course she does. She can be friends with girls just fine, thanks. Look at Paula, they just met a week ago, hated each other at first sight, and now she feels like the loving mother figure Rebecca never had. She tells Paula as much, and Paula doesn’t look convinced.

“Sure, Munchkin. Whatever you say.”

Rebecca knows there’s something she’s not saying, but before she can weasel it out of her, Whitefeather’s calling both of them in to talk to clients.

 

Rebecca and Valencia go out to a nightclub that night, flanked by Josh and Greg, and Rebecca revels in the way heads turn with every move they make. She knows they’re hot, that guys are gonna be all over them from the second they spot them til the second they spot the boys they’re with, but Rebecca’s not paying them any mind. Valencia goes off to dance with Josh, and Rebecca lets Greg twirl her a few times, but her heart’s not in it. Looking over at Valencia grinding against Josh, Rebecca feels the strong urge to knock back shot after shot, and she’s confused. She’s over Josh, she _knows_ she is, so why does she feel so hurt seeing him dance with Valencia?

And then Valencia points at her, makes a “come hither” motion, and the icy feeling in Rebecca’s heart instantly melts away. Rebecca makes her way towards her, puts her arms around her, dances against her feeling light and free. Grinding against her, chests bumping as they come towards one another, Rebecca feels like she’s floating. Like this is exactly what she’s wanted since she first saw her. Like this is exactly where she needs to be.

Valencia is laughing, and Rebecca puckers her lips in a silly duck face and leans in for a cheesy kiss. Valencia does the same and they break apart, laughing. And then Rebecca can’t stop herself from tangling her fingers in Valencia’s hair and pulling her in for a real kiss.

Valencia gasps against her lips, pulls back and stares at her. Rebecca feels that same coldness she felt when she saw Valencia dancing with Josh earlier, and she suddenly understands what it was when she prays that Valencia isn’t going to slap her or, worse, leave.

But then Valencia is leaning back in, kissing her in earnest, opening her mouth to let Rebecca in. They kiss for another minute, feeling like an eternity, slow and hazy with butterflies and alcohol, and then Rebecca pulls back, pressing her forehead against Valencia’s.

“Valencia, I,” she starts, coughs, uncertain all of a sudden. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, but she wants to let Valencia know how she feels. “I really like you.”

“I like you too, dummy,” Valencia says, and Rebecca falls in love with the affectionate nickname.

“No, I… I like, _like_ you, like you. Do you get it?” Rebecca says quietly, all the courage she has in her heart being poured into that sentence.

“I get it, Rebecca. And I _like you like you_ too,” she teases, and Rebecca laughs as Valencia kisses her again.


End file.
